Early First Round Targets

—Delaware's Nasir Adderley was the best small-school prospect on the field all week. A smooth operator at free safety, Adderley could push himself into the first 32 picks of the 2019 NFL draft thanks to his above-average coverage skills and excellent range. He's a potential day one starter at either nickel or safety.

 

I have said before Murphy is my early guy and that scares me that he will be gone cause I usually don't agree with many here with our first round pick. I have read that Williams may slip to off the field concerns. I will have to go back and find it but there was a report that GM's are worried what he will become after he gets paid. I will try and find where I read that....

 

This week, WalterFootball.com has heard about a number of high profile early-round prospects who have character concerns, including Jerry Tillery, Jachai Polite, Greedy Williams and Noah Fant. There are two other prospects who have come up as having significant off the field concerns. Those players are Utah safety Marquise Blair and Texas cornerback Kris Boyd. Some team sources really liked how Blair played at Utah, showing physicality and playing like his hair was on fire. Boyd has a decent skill set, but a lot of technical issues in coverage that hold him back.

However, teams are concerned about some of the habits that Blair and Boyd have. They are worried that both of them could have issues leading to suspensions because of that. Thus, Blair and Boyd have the potential to slide in the draft lower than where their talent level indicates they should go.


Here is the link some good stuff, I know some here don't like Walterfootball but it is what it is. Reah about the LB they compare to Leonard.....pretty interesting!

http://walterfootball.com/seniorbowl2019rumors5.php

 

I just found the article I was referring to:

Another high-profile prospect with makeup concerns is LSU cornerback Greedy Williams. Evaluators have some concerns about how Williams is going to respond to getting a multi-million dollar contract. They also are worried about family pressure and those around him being a distraction. Some sources feel that Williams is one of the most overrated players in the 2019 NFL Draft. They say LSU's 2018 games against Georgia and Alabama illustrate that. They felt that he took his foot off the pedal in his late season tapes and was protecting himself. A few sources said they graded Williams a late first-rounder, while another AFC scout said they graded Williams in Round 2. On top of the makeup, Williams' thin frame is providing some on-the-field concerns about how he will translate to the NFL. Williams will be in store for some interesting interviews at the combine, and it would help him if he could add weight to his frame.

 

Well his name is Greedy

 

Very good point and the Raiders too right?

 

Agree wholeheartedly regarding Murphy over Baker if both are available. Pittsburgh has historically banked on potential and Murphy is the better of the two. Add the fact he is fairly polished as well and he sure sounds like the player who can assist us for certain.



If not him, I do believe my other two candidates will be in play. Jachai screams Pittsburgh Steeler. That dude was born to hunt down quarterbacks. If not him, I am sure fans will love Bush's fearlessness and might get over his height limitations. If anything, today's NFL structure makes Bush's role a bit easier.

 

With the way they are looking at TE (which seems like later round blocking types) but with not knowing the status of our two free agents and McDonald's injury history, would they consider TE early? The two from Iowa, Smith jr., the kid from ND would all be nice to add. With just a blocking TE, and McDonald going down would retard that part of the offense. I know we need defense but so much depends on what we might be losing on offense potentially. I wouldn't have that if we came away with a ten year good TE.

 

A willing and able tackler is and should be a a top scouting concern when
evaluating any DB going forward especially for a team like the PGH Steelers who requires their CB's and safety's to tackle.
This is why a 170 pound db concerns me
after they get tired of tackling a 225- 235 lb running back the whole first half,
will they shy away from him in the second half? AKA Leonard Fournette
against the Pgh Steelers 2017 in regular season game and playoff game. A quality db
must have all qualities. I am a firm believer this person must be able to play man to man
and be able to find the ball to make a play on the ball. Create turnovers. See Steeler TO ratio
I believe it was -15 this can't happen and expect the Steelers to be Superbowl contenders.
Yes you can say Ben caused these numbers to skew. And I truly believe he is a big culprit 15 INT's
but the defense must also create their fair share of turnovers and it just didn't happen.

 

Just because a guy is 170 or 182 like I read don't mean he isn't a willing tackler. As a matter of fact Murphy had 37 solo and 58 total tackles last season. I get the idea of staying away from the smaller guys but if a guy has ball skills I am not worrying about size. Like I said before this is a pass happy league and if we have to worry about our DB's making tackles on every play we have bigger problems. This D has shown the lack of ball skills and a major lack of coverage if I see a guy with these skills this year in the draft(Murphy) then I am all in and size isn't an issue for me. JMO

 

Our DB 's do make a lot of tackles. The two safeties lead the team in them. The corners are right up there with a lot too, so yes there is a problem. If our linebackers were doing their jobs our DB's may not have to and they could do what we need them to do.

 

Friends, I am not singling out Murphy, I am sure he is a great talent
and will have a wonderful career. All I was trying to point out is to be a realist
when evaluating your favorite players. There are lot of things scouts and evaluators are looking at
when they are contemplating on spending a small fortune of the owners money on this talent.
I happen to love overachieving BIG MOTOR players that may not have the measurables but have
a love for the game of football.. The biggest question evaluators must ask themselves,
how will this talent transition to the pro game where all players are good.

 

i know one that has talent and we are not talking much about is julian love from ND. i'm also still on the brice brown train if we wait for a later round guy. he's a talented corner. the kid from miami isn't too bad either. this is a pretty good class of corners this cycle.

 

this early in the process a lot of these guys that had injuries get pushed down for the flavor of the month. brown and love fall into this category. as i said this class is very deep in corners, so getting a top player at another position still gets you a pretty good player down the line as well. possibly a player like brian burns. even if he starts out as a situational pass rusher for us, the kid creates turnovers. we need more of that. more pressure and balls coming out faster makes the DB's better. guys that can play up near the LOS and jam guys create a lot of chaos where a pure downfield cover man can't. i'm not against a guy like murphy at all but we need so much, i'd hate to miss on guys that could help the overall defense.

 

You will see lots of publications predictions up until the draft, all I am saying for us arm chair Gm's
scouts /evaluating talent, Be realistic with your expectations and remember who these players
are competing against. Now put them in against a JUJU or AB and see how they might do trying to defend
that type of player. Pick the position it really doesn't matter just try to imagine these players against
PRO PLAYERS There is a big difference. I do not spend the time as some of you people do,whether it be your
hobby, or you just enjoy doing it. I am just expressing an opinion. Scouts should be watching a lot of tape and talking to alot of people
up until the draft. Be prepared. I can only hope the Steelers are. And usually 2-3 years later will know the answer if it was good
draft year.

 

Indeed.



I did put this on the backburner initially because I thought that the Wide Receiving position was deep. I now realize how horribly wrong I was. There really is only two, possibly three, First Round receivers. Everyone else is up in the air. They are as follows:



D.K. Metcalf: Best overall in terms of talent. Thing that separates him from the others is his athletic ability. Not the best combat catcher but is a close second. Best trait is deep play ability.


N'Keal Harry: Love JuJu? Meet his bigger, stronger clone. Love combat catching? You will love him. Once he contests the catch, good luck to the poor defensive backs that face him.


Kelvin Harmon: Most physical receiver overall. Not just his routes but his demeanor. Not as great as Harry in terms of high pointing and will not beat Metcalf in a race but has some nasty to his game.




Deebo Samuel could be an option but am still unsure about him. AB's cousin is someone I would not consider either. Beyond those two, not too many other receivers that have my attention currently.